Automatic stop for phonographs



April 8 1924. 1,489,671

P. RICHTER AUTOMATIC STOP FOR PHONOGRAPHS Filed May 23. 1923 f MENTOR 2a0 i9 36 7 m 9- Arrmzvzys.

PAUL RICHTE Patented Aer.

a, rear.

PAUL RICHTER, 01'" DALE CITY, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC STGI? FOR PHONOGBAPHS.

Application filed May 23,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it l'nown that I, PAUL RICHTER, a eiti zen of the United States,residing at Daly City, county of San Mateo, and State of California,have invented new and useful Improvements in an Automatic Stop forPhonographs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a stop mechanism for phonographs andespecially to a stop mechanism which is actuated by movement of the tonearm and whereby a brake is automatically applied to stop the turningmovement of the turntable when the end or any point desired on a recordis reached.

The object of the present invention is to generally improve and simplifythe construction and operation of an automatic stop mechanism of thecharacter described; to provide a stop mechanism which may be readilyapplied to practically any phonograph employing a disk record, andfurther a stop mechanism which is sensitive and which may be readily andaccurately set to stop the turntable and the record supported thereby atthe end of the record or at any intermediate point desired.

One form of which my invention may sume is exemplified in the followingdescription and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig.1 is a plan view of a phonograph showing the application of theinvention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail side eleva tion of the inner end of thestop mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view or" the sup porting bracket.

- Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the inner end of thepointer arm.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly to Fig. 1, Aindicates the top of a phonograph case, 2 the turntable, 3 a recordsupported thereby, l the reproducer, 5 the tone arm, and 6 the sleeveabout which the tone arm swings during playing 01 the record.

The stop mechanism forming the subject matter of the present applicationconsists of a supporting bracket generally shown in Figs. 1 and 3, andindicated at B. This bracket consists of an upper segmental shaped arm7, a pair of supporting legs 8, and a base section 9, which isperforated as at 10 to permit it to be secured to the 1923. Serial No.540,818.

top of the phonograph case by means of screws or the like. The segmentalarm 7 forms a portion of a true circle, the center of which is locatedat 11. The arm 7 forms a support for a pointer arm generally indicatedat C. The inner end oi this arm terminates in a segmental shaped bearingmember 12 which engages the outer edge'ot the arm 7, and it isfurthermore provided with two inwardly extending arms 13 and let, oneextending above the arm 7 and one below the arm The inner ends of thearms 13 and 14: are connected by a vertical pin 15 and this in turnforms a support for a fiat leaf spring 16, which engages the inner edgeof the arm 7. The spring 16 serves the function or maintaining apredetermined frictional engagement between the inner segmental shapedend 12 of the pointer arm and the arm 7, the amount of frictionmaintained being just sullicient to retain the pointer aim in theposition which it as sumes when the pointer 17 formed on the outer endof the arm has been adjusted. The arms 13 and 14 also serve the functionof retaining the pointer arm C in a horizontal position, and to furthersecure the arm in a horizontal position an overlapping lip 18 is formedon the segment 12.

The arm C serves two functions: first that of: supporting the pointer17, andsecondly that of supporting a rocker arm generally indicated atD. The rocker arm in reality is nothing more or less than a bell crank.The arm proper is jouinalled on top of the pointer arm in bearingsindicated at 19. One end of the arm is extended as indicated at 20 toengage a locking lever generally indicated at E, which will hereinafterbe described. The opposite end of the rocker arm supports a trip lever21 in the upper end of which is mounted an adjusting screw 22 which isadapted to be engaged by the tonearm as will hereinafter be described.The locking lever is pivot ally supported the point 23 (see Fig. 2 upona bearing lug 2secured to or forming a part or" the base member 9. Thelower end of the locking le' er is provided with a cam face 25 and alocking shoulder 26. The portionot the locking lever disposed just abovethe shoulder 26 is also provided with an extended cam face 27, whichterminates in l cking lug 28 and it is otherwise extended to form alever arm 29 by which it is graspedwhen the locking mechanism ismanually released. Also supported by the base section 9 is a bearing lugand pivota-lly supported thereby, as at 81, is a lever which consists ofan upper arm 32 and a lower arm 83, thearms 32 and 83 being connected bya vertical intermediate section 34. The upper section 32 is attached toa helical tension spring 85, which in turn is secured to the base as at36, while the lower arm 33 is provided with a brake shoe 37 whichextends in under the turntable 2 and it is adapted to frictionallyengage the same when the record is to be stopped. The operation will beas follows:

By referring to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the pointer arm C swingsin a true circle about the point 11, this point being the center of thesleeve 6 about which the tone arm 5 also swings. It will further benoted that the pointer 17 on the end of the arm has a range of movementfrom the beginning of the record to the end thereof, and it is,therefore, possible to set the pointer at any point intermediate thebeginning of the record to the end of the record. If it is desired toautomatically stop the phonograph when the end of the record is reached,it is only necessary to grasp the arm C and to swing it until thepointer 17 aligns with the last groove in the record, and then to swingthe tone arm, together with the reproducer, until the needle on thereproducer also registers with the last groove in the record. When thepointer 17 and the needle on the reproducer have both been placed in thelast groove of the record, it is only neces sary to adjust the screw 22so that it engages the tone a-rm. Once this adjustment has been made itbecomes permanent and no further attention will be required as far asthe adjusting screw 22 is concerned; that is, screw 22 is so adjustedthat whenever the needle on the reproducer registers with the point. ofthe pointer 17 engagement is made with the screw 22 and the trip lever21 is thereby actuated. This adjustment once made, as previously stated,becomes permanent and it is, therefore, only resorted to when the stopmechanism is first applied.

\Ve will now suppose that the record shown in Fig. l is to be played andthat it is desired to automatically stop the record when the end of thegroove is reached. if this is the case and if screw 22 has previouslybeen adjusted, it is only necessary to swing the arm C until the pointer17 registers with the last groove. Tone arm 5, together with thereproducer, may then be set at the beginning of a record in the usualmanner and the phonograph is started. During the playing of the record,the reproducer is automatically fed inwardly towards the center of therecord and the tone arm will, as a consequence, swing in unison therewith. The moment the last groove of the record is reached engagement issimultaneously made with the screw 22 and as this is carried by theupper end of the trip lever 21, it can be seen that a rocking movementwill be transmitted therto. The trip lever is secured to the rocker armD and therefore also imparts a rocking movement thereto. The extendedend 20 of the rocker arm will thus engage the cam surface 27 and by thisengagement will force the locking lever in the direction of arrow 1:.(See 2.) The locking shoulder 26 of the locking lever is thus swung outof engagement with the arm 82 and when so released it is pulleddownwardly by the spring 35. The opposite end of the lever 32 or thatindicated by the lower section 33 is, as a consequence, swung in anupward direction and the brake shoe 3? carried thereby is forced intoengagement with the lower face of the turntable 2, thus applying abraking action which will almost instantly bring the turntable to astop. The

downward pull of the spring 35 serves two functions, first, that ofimparting a rocking movement to the arms 32 and to apply the brake, and,secondly, that of swinging the locking lever to released position; thatis, by downward movement of arm 32 engagement is made with the cam face25. The locking lever is thus swung in the direction of arrow a aboutthe pivot 23; said movement in this direction being limited byflattening the lower end thereof as shown at to form a stop shoulder. Ifit is desired to repeat the record, it is first necessary to release thebrake shoe 3?. This is accomplished by grasping the upper end 29 of thelocking lever and pulling it inwardly or in a direction opposite to thatindicated by arrow 0. Cam face 25 will thus engage the arm and raise thesame against the tension of spring It will simultaneously depress thearm 38 and thereby move the brake shoe out of engagement with the turntable. ,The cam face 27 will simultaneously engage the extended end 20of the rocker arm and will thus impart a rocking movement thereto, whichwill swing the trip lever 21 into proper position and as the cam face 27terminates in the locking lug 28, it will retain the rocker arm in itsraised position. The shoulder 26 locks the arm 32 when a verticalposition is reached and as already stated it also locks the rocker arm Dand the trip lever 21. The tone arm may now be swung to replace thereproducer and the pointer arm C may also be adjusted to anotherposition if desired. but if it is desired to merely repeat the recordthe pointer arm will naturally remain in its previous position where thepointer registers with the end of the recoru. It may, however, be adjusted after the locking lever has been re-set and the brake shoereleased as it swings about the center 11, and the possibility ofadjusting after the locking lever has been reset 18 also due to the factthat the extended end 20 of the rocker arm is segmental shaped andpresents an arcuated face which is formed with the point 11 as thecenter. In other words, arm 20 can swing freely under the locking lug 28without releasing the lever,'this being due to its circular or arcularshape, and also due to the fact that the locking lever is not releasedexcept when arm 20 is raised, when rockin movement is imparted to thearm D through means of the trip lever 21. I

The stop mechanism here illustrated is exceedingly simple. The baseportion of the supporting bracket is formed on a curve which fits theexterior formation of the sleeve 6. It is thus easily centered andpositioned and may be secured by inserting two or more screws throughthe perforations indicated at 10. Gnce secured it is readily adjusted aspreviously stated by aligning the pointer 17 and the needle of thereproducer and then adjusting the position of the screw 22. The pointer17, by the way, is turned downwardly against the record and assumes aposition so close thereto that it is an exceedingly simple matter toadjust the arm C so that the record may be stopped at any point desired.The construction of the stop mechanism is also such that it may beaoplied to practically any phonograph emp oying a disk record, thisbeing true whether the phonograph was previously constructed for thereception thereof or not. The only change required when applying thestop mechanism to phonographs of different makes is to increase ordecrease the size of the base portion 9 as this should in all instancesconform to the exterior diameter of the sleeve 6 of the base portionthereof. Most phonographs on the maraet today are, however, more or lessstandardized and such adjustment, is therefore, readily taken care of.

l vhile certain features of the present invention are more or lessspecifically illus trated, I wish it understood that various changes inform and proportion may be re sorted to within the scope of the appendedclaims; similarly that the materials and finish of the several partsemployed may be such as the experience and judgment of the manufacturermay dictate or various uses may demand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. The combination with the turntable ofa phonographand a record supported thereby, of a tone arm movable across the face ofthe record, a support for the tone arm having a central oint about whichit swings, a pointer arm also movable over the face of the record andadapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm, saidpointer arm being manually adjustable with relation to the face of therecord and normally stationary, and also adapted to be engaged by thetone arm, and means actuated by such engagement for automaticallystopping the turntable.

2. The combination with the turntable of a phonograph and a recordsupported thereby, of a tone arm movable across the face of the record,a support for the tone arm having a central point about which it swings,a pointer arm also movable over the face of the record and adapted toswing about the same central point as the tone arm, said pointer armbeing manually adjustable with relation to the face of the record andnormally stationary, a trip lever carried by the pointer arm and adaptedto be engaged by the tone arm when it has travelled a predetermineddistance across the face of the record, and means actuated by suchengagement for automatically stopping the turntable.

3. The combination with the turntable of a phonograph and a recordsupported thereby, of a tone arm movable across the face of the record,a support for the tone arm having a central point about which it swings,a pointer arm also movable over the face of the record and adapted toswing about the same central point as the tone arm, said pointer armbeing manually adjustable with relation to the face of the record andnormally stationary, a trip lever carried by the pointer arm and adaptedto be engaged by the tone arm when it has travelled a predetermineddistance across the face of the record, a brake engageable with the turntable but normally held out of engagement therewith, and means actuatedby the trip lever for releasing the brake so that it may beautomatically applied to stop the turn table.

4. The, combination with the turntable of a phonograph and a recordsupported there by, of a tone arm movable across the face of the record,a support for the tone arm having a central point about which the tonearm swings, a pointer arm also movable across the face of the record andadapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm, areproducer carried by the tone arm, a needle on the reproducer, apointer on the pointer arm, said pointer arm and pointer adaptedto bemanually adjusted to register with any point on the face of the record,and means for automatically stopping the turning movement of the recordwhen the needle on the reproducer advances to a point where it alignswith the pointer.

5. The combination with the turntable of a phonograph and a recordsupported thereby, of a tone arm movable across the face of the record,a support for the tone arm having a central point about which the tonearm swings, a pointer arm also movable across the t'ace of the recordand adapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm, areprodueer carried by the tone arm, 'a needle on the reproducer, apointer on the pointer arm,' said pointer arm and pointer adapted to bemanually adjusted to register with any point on the face of the record,a trip lever carried by the pointer arm; an adjusting screw on said triplever, said screw being adjusted so as to be engaged by the tone armwhen the needle on the reproducer registers or aligns with the pointenand means actuated by said engagement for 'automaticall stopping theturntable.

6. llhe combination with the tone arm of a phonograph and a supportabout which it swings, of a supporting bracket adapted to he secured tothe phonograph at a point concentric with the support about which thetone arm swings, a segmental shaped arm carried by the supportingbracket, a pointer arm slidable on the segmental. arm, said pointer armadapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm, a stopmechan ism for the phonog'aph, and a trip lever carried by the pointerarm and adapted to a tuate the stop n'ieehanism.

T. The combination with the tone arm of a phonograph and a support aboutwhich it swings, of a supporting bracket adapted to be secured to thephonograph at a point concentric with the support about which the tonearm swings, a segnnental shaped arm carried by the supporting bracket, apointer arm slidable on the segmental arm, said pointer arm adapted toswing about the same central point as the tone arm. a trip lei'erpivotally mounted on the pointer arm. a rocker arm to which the triplever is secured, a brake shoe, a rocker arm pivotall supporting thesame a spring; normally eX erting a pull to raise the .iralre shoe intooperable positioin a locking lever engagable with said arm ane adaptedto hold the brake shoe in inoperative position. and a cam on saidlocking lever adap ed to he engaged b the rocker arm, said rocker armand cam adapted to swing the rocker arm to a posi tion where it willrelease the brake shoe and arm when the trip lever is actuated.

PAUL RICHTER.

